The birth of TuTu-Topia…!! (my first online business)

Ok… so on with the To be Continued… from my last blog!!!

Also in case you ever wondered why I chose the name TOPIAN for my 'now'

business, continue reading...!!!!

I created an online business in 2007 and called it TuTu-Topia.

As I mentioned in my last blog, my tutu skirts were becoming popular on eBay and I had always wanted to learn how to create a website, especially as it seemed that online selling was where businesses were heading!!!

Back then creating a website didn’t feel as easy as it does now and to my knowledge there wasn’t as many online platforms that we could use to create websites… So I learnt how to do html etc… and got myself a copy of the software called Adobe Dreamweaver.

My goal was to create a selling platform where people could literally design their own tutu’s. They would use the website to select their personal design, such as how many layers, the colours, decoration, size etc… I wanted to create unlimited possibilities for people to design exactly what they wanted and to cater for all sizes from Toddlers to Plus sizes, with a price range that would suit everyone. Over time I increased my range and choices. I designed bustles… tutu’s with bustles attached to them, pettiskirts, even tutu’s with hidden pockets and many other variations. People seemed to love the freedom they had when using my website to create their own custom design. I was making tutus for individuals, parties, dancers, festivals, photoshoots, weddings, charities and even for TV.

My biggest single order was for 99 tutu skirts, which I made for a ballet company in Australia.

I had many great experiences whilst running this business… my biggest exposure was probably being contacted by Vogue UK magazine in 2009 and being asked to make a Marilyn Monroe style tutu skirt for ‘Lady Gaga’ to wear for a photoshoot.

I also made some rainbow tutu’s for the BBC TV which where worn on a charity TV series in 2011 called Let’s dance for comic relief.

Ed Byrne performed to 'I like to Boogie' in which the dancers who accompanied him wore tutu skirts designed and made by me. You can read more of my experiences on the Bio section of my website…

Here's a Slide Show of some TuTu-Topia customers

During this time I had also discovered Etsy and added some of my tutus on their website, in the early 2000’s not many people in the UK had heard of it. I did however sell a few tutus to the USA, but I mainly used it as an advertising platform. Whilst exploring Etsy I started to notice that people were selling recycled and upcycled clothing, this obviously caught my attention and the seed was planted!! I was continuing to make my own clothing on a personal level and as I mentioned in a previous blog, I really had no idea that people would buy this style of clothes!

Whilst running the TuTu-Topia website I decided that I was going to start making a few items of clothing to sell and see what happened. I went round some local charity shops and started collecting garments and had a play around with designs.

As my website was already set up and visitors from all over the world visited it, in 2009 I started adding my clothing designs. Because the clothes that I was making wasn’t really related to tutus, I added a second section to my website and linked the two together by calling my clothing designs ‘Topian Clothing’ and they started to sell woooo!!!

This is a photo of a customer wearing one of my first designs...

However something else happened too… I realised how much I enjoyed free style creating rather than a fixed way of designing. I loved being artistically expressive with my designs and enjoyed being more conscious of the environment whilst creating… I found that making the same styles over and over again was becoming less appealing. I had loved giving customers the freedom to create their ideas into a reality, but I knew that I was at a cross roads. The tutu website was doing very well, but it wasn’t making me feel as fulfilled as it once had. Anyway it took me a few years of conflicted conversations with myself to finally decide in 2014 that I would close the website and fully concentrate on making clothing, by this time I was also making bags and accessories!

So if you were wondering… this is how the name ‘TOPIAN' came about…!

It then became THE TOPIAN DEN to reflect a space where creative fun and happiness happens… handmade den’s were always great places to hang out when I was a kid… be it your bedcover over some chairs or using sticks and a blanket to build a tent in the woods!!!

My next blog will be a little about my inspirations behind The Topian Den and more beginnings of this journey…

Oh… and before I go I also wanted to mention, when the GDPR happened in May… I got all confused about having peoples email addresses etc… arrrhhh so I deleted them!!!

Sorry to everyone who signed up to get notified when my new blogs were posted!!

#loveyourclothes #fightfastfashion #ecofriendly #recycled #upcycled #tutuskirts